This painting is darker than an Umbreon.

Pokémon GO has taken over the internet, surpassing even porn as the most-searched topic online, and getting people churning out all kind of crazy theories about when the game takes places in the Poké-timeline.

But, for better or for worse, with millions of people all over the world obsessed with Pokémon GO, Polish artist Pawel Kuczynski asks a question with his recent illustration: at what point do we no longer control the Pokémon, and they control us?

Here’s the illustration in question:

While we don’t know the artist’s intentions, it’s fairly obvious that he’s painting a gloomy picture of Pokémon GO players. In this image, we’re grayscale, nearly-devoid-of-life mindless animals who only exist to do the bidding of cute, bright, colorful creatures. I mean, to be fair that’s not entirely wrong, but personally I don’t find it as grim as the artist does.

Here’s some reactions from Twitter from others who disagreed with Kuczynski’s interpretation:

https://twitter.com/seasonedbruja/status/758407087969951744 https://twitter.com/LNADE_/status/758373830083522560 https://twitter.com/ShriniWagh/status/758364856542048256

It should also be noted that this isn’t Kuczynski’s first artistic piece to comment on technology and social media. Here’s a few other illustrations he’s made with similar themes and the same kind of on-the-nose symbolism:

https://twitter.com/R0BERTeM/status/753331838828118018 https://twitter.com/simplyang63/status/741289816260775936

Whether you agree or disagree with Kuczynski’s assessment of Pokémon GO and our hyper-connected modern lives, it’s always good to remember that everything is best in moderation. There’s nothing wrong with having fun playing a game, just so long as you don’t sacrifice your grocery money and real-life friends for Lure Modules. Then, you may want to get that Pikachu off your back.

Source: ARTIST DATABASE
Featured/top image: Twitter/@ninagarcia